On Civil Government and the Return of Christ

Welcome back to our congregational study of the Augsburg Confession! In celebration of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, we’ve been working our way through the AC, article-by-article. It’s been fairly difficult at times, and I congratulate you for reading so far. This month we’re going to look at a couple articles that sometimes slip by us: whether Christians can hold political office and what we believe about the return of Christ. Here’s Article XVI: Civil Government –

Our churches teach that lawful civil regulations are good works of God. They teach that it is right for Christians to hold political office, to serve as judges, to judge matters by imperial laws and other existing laws, to impose just punishments, to engage in just wars, to serve as soldiers, to make legal contracts, to hold property, to take oaths when required by the magistrates, for a man to marry a wife, or a woman to be given in marriage [Romans 13; 1 Corinthians 7:2].

Our churches condemn the Anabaptists who forbid these political offices to Christians. They also condemn those who do not locate evangelical perfection in the fear of God and in faith, but place it in forsaking political offices. For the Gospel teaches an eternal righteousness of the heart (Romans 10:10). At the same time, it does not require the destruction of the civil state or the family. The Gospel very much requires that they be preserved as God’s ordinances and that love be practiced in such ordinances. Therefore, it is necessary for Christians to be obedient to their rulers and laws. The only exception is when they are commanded to sin. Then they ought to obey God rather than men (Acts 5:29).

As we’ve encountered already, this article is broken up into 2 parts: what we believe and what we reject, more or less. First, what do we believe? We believe that, “lawful civil regulations are good works of God.” That means that, when we keep civil laws – such as, not murdering or stealing – we’re actually doing things that are pleasing to God. That’s because not murdering and not stealing are things God has told us in Scripture. Also, since we learn in Scripture (Rom. 13) that civil government started as God’s idea, it is perfectly fine for a Christian to hold office, be a judge or police office, be a politician, buy or sell in the marketplace, swear before a judge, etc.

You might know that the Lutheran Reformation wasn’t the only one happening in the 1500’s. Another group around at this time was called the Anabaptists. They believed that the civil realm was absolutely sinful; therefore, a Christian could not hold a political office. If you were a Christian who did – then you weren’t a true Christian. We, of course, disagree with that for the reasons above. Instead, we would say the Gospel encourages us to continue in our vocations, including serving in a civil office or aspiring to one. We also believe that it is a Christian’s duty to obey their rulers and laws. “The only exception is when they are commanded to sin. Then they ought to obey God rather than men.”

Now for Article XVII: The Return of Christ for Judgment –

Our churches teach that at the end of the world Christ will appear for judgment and will raise all the dead [1 Thessalonians 4:13–5:2]. He will give the godly and elect eternal life and everlasting joys, but He will condemn ungodly people and the devils to be tormented without end [Matthew 25:31–46].

Our churches condemn the Anabaptists, who think that there will be an end to the punishments of condemned men and devils.

Our churches also condemn those who are spreading certain Jewish opinions, that before the resurrection of the dead the godly shall take possession of the kingdom of the world, the ungodly being everywhere suppressed.

Again, this article is broken into a couple parts – what we believe and what we don’t. With the majority of the Church catholic (universal), we believe that at the end of the world Christ will return and raise the dead. At His return, He will also render His eternal judgment against sin. Those who, by grace, received His Word in faith for the forgiveness of their sins will enter eternal life. However, those who rejected Christ and His Word will be condemned to eternal separation from God’s love in hell.

The same group we mentioned earlier, the Anabaptists, come up here. They taught, and some still do, that there is an end to the condemnation of hell. In a nutshell, they taught that one could leave hell and enter heaven. The second thing we reject may be a more familiar idea, since it is part of the premise of the Left Behind series that was popular a little while back. We reject that – before Christ returns – all evil will be destroyed and Christians will be the rulers of this world. Though they aren’t mentioned here, we also don’t hold to the ideas of the Rapture or Tribulation. None of these are actually Christian ideas, originally. We simply believe that the end of the world will be when Christ returns. Those who received Him in faith will enter the new creation, those who rejected Him will be condemned.

I hate to end of kind of a bummer of a sentence. I guess, I encourage all Christians to give thanks for the grace they’ve received and pray that the number of God’s people would be increased. Next month we’ll return to a couple articles that hit on the core of the faith. We’ll study the articles on free will and the cause of sin. See you next month!